Federal / Agency News

President Trump has named Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting as acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) beginning Jan. 6, after Director Mel Watt’s term ends.

HUD issued a notice of Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Annual Adjustment Factors (AAFs) for certain properties in HUD’s Section 8 housing assistance payment (HAP) programs. The AAFs are provide annual adjustments to rents based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index survey.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a final rule that updates requirements for public approval of tax-exempt private activity bonds (PABs). All PABs are required to hold a hearing of public approval. The rule changes the reasonable public notice period from 14 to 7 days prior to the hearing and allows for the posting of the hearing on a website without other notice.

Congress is readying a short-term continuing resolution that would fund the government through Feb. 8 and avert a partial government shutdown on Friday, Dec. 21. Seven appropriations subcommittee bills, including Transportation-HUD, still have yet to receive funding for all of Fiscal Year (FY) 2019. Five of the twelve appropriations subcommittee bills are funded for all of FY 2019 and won’t need a CR to continue operating.

Annie Donovan announced that she will step down as the director of the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Donovan will be replaced by Jodie Harris in January.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue sent a letter to House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Chairman Robert Aderhold (R-AL) to explain staffing changes within the Rural Housing Service (RHS) Section 538 rental guarantee program and Section 515 rental loan program.

House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) released a third iteration of a year-end tax package. The new version includes the same provision in his original and second bill that clarifies that veterans are a specified group for preferences within the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program and extends the LIHTC public use provisions from nine percent allocations to also include four percent bond allocations.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS) within the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a proposed rule that would eliminate the notice of funding availability (NOFA) for the Section 538 Guaranteed Rural Rental Housing Program.

The 2019 Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) rents are now available, which will be used any new awards issued starting in 2019.

HUD recently issued Notice 2018-10 that details best practices to help ensure guest suite use is consistent with National Housing Act prohibitions against transient or hotel use of multifamily properties. HUD acknowledges guest suites as an amenity may contribute to the marketability of certain multifamily projects.

The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) will hold a hearing on “A Legislative Proposal to Provide for a Sustainable Housing Finance System: The Bipartisan Housing Finance Reform Act of 2018” on Friday, Dec. 21 at 9 a.m. EST in Rayburn House Office Building, room 2128.

HUD’s 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress found that 552,830 persons experienced homelessness on a single night in 2018, an increase of 0.3 percent since last year. The report did note significant declines among veterans as well as families with children experiencing homelessness with a 5.4 percent and 2.7 percent nationwide decline over 2017, respectively.